Resource Manager, System And Method For Communicating Resource Management Information For Smart Energy And Media Resources

ABSTRACT

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a resource management platform, system and method of communicating resource management information for smart energy and media resources is provided. A resource management platform can include an interface configured to communicate media management information and energy management information. The resource management platform also includes a processor configured to detect an incoming communication to alter an operating condition in response to receiving the media management information or the energy management information. The processor can further be configured to initiate an output of media content in response to detecting media management information, and initiate altering an operating status of a device in response to detecting the energy management information. The processor can also initiate storing at least a portion of the media content and the energy management information within a memory.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/529,018, entitled “Customer Engagement Platformand Portal”, which was filed Aug. 30, 2011 and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/606,728, entitled “Voice Controlled NetworkDevices and Systems”, which was filed Mar. 5, 2012, which disclosuresare hereby expressly incorporated by reference as though set forth fullyherein. The present application is also related to Applicant'sconcurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “ACustomer Engagement Platform and Portal Having Multi-Media Capabilities”and filed on Aug. 30, 2012; U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______,entitled a “Terminal Connector For a Wall Mounted Device” and filed onAug. 30, 2012; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled an“Energy Management System and Method Including Auto ProvisioningCapabilities Using Near Field Communication”, and filed on Aug. 30, 2012the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated by referenceas though set forth fully herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to a resource manager, system, and method forcommunicating resource management information for smart energy and mediaresources.

BACKGROUND

Various forms of devices and communication protocols, both open standardand proprietary, are being used in the electronics industry. However, asstandards lag behind technology development and consumer demand, it isbecoming increasingly difficult to connect devices. One of the primaryreasons home automation products have been too costly to own has beenthe initial cost of setting up a system. An installer would need toinstall each piece of equipment which leads to another increase inoverall system cost. With the emergence of smart technologies andappliances within the home, the lack of interoperability has slowedprogress and delayed efficiencies sought by energy companies andtechnology providers.

A key driver in connecting devices at the home is the smartphone andtablet markets. Consumers are becoming more and more connected and relyon instant access to music, photos, videos, and social networks. Asthese markets continue to drive the electronics industry, there is aneed to leverage technology within the smart home, home automation, andhome entertainment industries.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a resource manager, system andmethod of communicating resource management information for smart energyand media resources is provided.

According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a resource managementplatform can include an interface configured to communicate mediamanagement information and energy management information. The resourcemanagement platform also includes a processor configured to detect anincoming communication to alter an operating condition in response toreceiving the media management information or the energy managementinformation. The processor can further be configured to initiate anoutput of media content in response to detecting media managementinformation, and initiate altering an operating status of a device inresponse to detecting the energy management information. The processorcan also initiate storing at least a portion of the media content andthe energy management information within a memory.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method of managing aresource is provided. The method includes receiving a communicationincluding media management information or energy management informationat a site, and detecting an incoming communication to alter an operatingcondition in response to receiving the media management information orthe energy management information. The method further includesoutputting media content in response to detecting media managementinformation, and altering an operating status of a device in response todetecting the energy management information. The method also includesstoring at least a portion of the media content and the energymanagement information within a memory.

According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a resource managementplatform can include a processor configured to detect an incomingcommunication to alter an operating condition in response to receivingmedia management information or energy management information. Theprocessor can further be configured to initiate an output of mediacontent in response to detecting the media management information, andinitiate altering an operating status of a device in response todetecting the energy management information. The processor can furtherinitiate storing at least a portion of the media content and the energymanagement information within a memory. The resource management platformcan further include an interface configured to use one or more of aZigbee based communication device, a Z-wave based communication device,a WiFi based communication device, a Bluetooth based communicationdevice, and a Power Line based communication device.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a resource managementplatform is provided and includes a thermostat control interface capableof altering an operating condition of an environmental control system.The resource management platform can also include a touchscreen displayconfigurable to enable access to media content located at a remote mediasource, and a speaker operable to output audio accessed from the remotemedia source. The resource management platform can include an interfaceconfigured to communicate media content and energy managementinformation at the site, and a processor configured to detect anincoming communication to alter an operating condition in response toreceiving at least a portion of the media management information and atleast a portion of the energy management information. The processor canfurther be configured to initiate an output of the media content inresponse to detecting the media management information, and initiatealtering the operating condition of the environmental control system inresponse to detecting the energy management information. The processorcan further be configured to initiate storing at least a portion of themedia content and the energy management information within a memory.

Various other aspects of the disclosure are provided in the abstract,description of the drawings, and claims provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements illustrated in the Figures have not necessarily been drawn toscale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements areexaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporatingteachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respectto the drawings presented herein, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a distributed resource managementsystem configurable to manage resources at a site according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of exemplary resources capable of beingmanaged according to an aspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management platformconfigured to deploy a resource manager according to an aspect of thedisclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management platformconfigured to manage a media resource and a smart energy resourceaccording to an aspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of views of a media resource according toan aspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of views of a docking resource according toan aspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of provisioning aresource according to an aspect of the disclosure; and

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of managing a resourceaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The following description in combination with the Figures is provided toassist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The followingdiscussion will focus on specific implementations and embodiments of theteachings. This focus is provided to assist in describing the teachingsand should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope orapplicability of the teachings. However, other teachings can certainlybe utilized in this application. The teachings can also be utilized inother applications and with several different types of architecturessuch as distributed computing architectures, client/serverarchitectures, or middleware server architectures and associatedcomponents.

Devices or programs that are in communication with one another need notbe in continuous communication with each other unless expresslyspecified otherwise. In addition, devices or programs that are incommunication with one another may communicate directly or indirectlythrough one or more intermediaries.

Embodiments discussed below describe, in part, distributed computingsolutions that manage all or part of a communicative interaction betweennetwork elements. In this context, a communicative interaction may beintending to send information, sending information, requestinginformation, receiving information, receiving a request for information,or any combination thereof. As such, a communicative interaction couldbe unidirectional, bidirectional, multi-directional, or any combinationthereof. In some circumstances, a communicative interaction could berelatively complex and involve two or more network elements. Forexample, a communicative interaction may be “a conversation” or seriesof related communications between a client and a server—each networkelement sending and receiving information to and from the other. Thecommunicative interaction between the network elements is notnecessarily limited to only one specific form. A network element may bea node, a piece of hardware, software, firmware, middleware, anothercomponent of a computing system, or any combination thereof.

For purposes of this disclosure, a resource can include various typesand combinations of systems, devices, software, applications, methods,drivers, media, services, controllers, platforms, interfaces, and canfurther include an environment management system, environmentcontroller, energy management system, customer engagement portal,customer engagement platform, energy management apparatus, networkdevice, controller, home automation controller, energy controller,controller module, site controller, processing resources, or anycombination thereof can include any instrumentality or aggregate ofinstrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit,receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect,record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment,or other purposes. For example, a resource can include one or anycombination of an energy management system, an energy management device,a network device, a mobile device, a mobile application, a personalcomputer, a desktop application, a web-based interface, a hostedapplication, hosted software, hosted services, an application interface,a PDA, a consumer electronic device, a media device, a smart phone, acellular or mobile phone, a smart utility meter, an advanced meteringinfrastructure, a smart energy device, an energy display device, a homeautomation controller, an energy hub, a smart energy gateway, a set-topbox, a digital media subscriber system, a cable modem, a broadbandcommunication device, a fiber optic enabled communications device, amedia gateway, a home media management system, a robotically controlleddevice, a robotically controlled cleaning device such as a Broomba®, amedia server, a game console, a network server, a network storagedevice, a wireless speaker, a customer engagement platform, a customerengagement portal, a retail energy provider's server, a wholesale energyprovider's server, a COOP energy provider's server, a retail businessserver, a commercial site server, an industrial site server, amulti-residential site server, a temporary lodging server, a hotelserver, a motel server, a condominium server, a utility provider'sserver which can include waste, water, power or combinations thereof, anenergy substation, a news media server, a weather server, anadvertisement server or service provider, a network radio server orservice provider, a network media server or service provider, a musicserver or service provider, a search engine server or service provider,an information server or service provider, a wireless informationnetwork device, a vehicle charging station, a renewable energyproduction device, a renewable energy control device, an energy storagemanagement system, a smart appliance, an HVAC system, a water pump, aheat pump, a hot water heater, a thermostat (TSTAT), an energycontroller, an irrigation system, a lighting system, an alarm system, asmart power outlet, an energy detection device, a garage door openingsystem or device, a power measurement device, a power measurement unit,an air handler, a wireless air damper, a humidity control system, a heatand motion sensing device, a smart power outlet, a switch router, awireless router, an automobile or transportation device, an electricvehicle, a network communication device, or any other suitable device orsystem, and can vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, andprice.

According to an aspect, a resource can include one or any of acombination of memory, processing resources or controllers such as amicrocontroller or central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or softwarecontrol logic to enable management of a resource. Additional componentsof a resource can include one or more storage devices, one or morewireless, wired or any combination thereof of communications ports tocommunicate with external resources as well as various input and output(I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, pointers, touch controllers,and display devices. A resource can also include one or more busesoperable to transmit communication of management information between thevarious hardware components, and can communicate using wire-linecommunication data buses, wireless network communication, or anycombination thereof. For example, a resource can deploy communicationusing a data bus internal to a device and can also include using anetwork, wireless network, wireless energy network, an informationnetwork, a wireless environment network, a wireless home environmentnetwork, or any other type of network capable of communicating resourceinformation.

According to a further aspect, a resource can use any combination ofdevices or modules to communicate resource information, including anetwork that can include various types and variants of wireless andwire-line communication configurable to manage and establishcommunication at a site, including associated protocols or enhancementsthereto including, but not limited to, any combination or portion of,IP-based communication, Broad-band communication, IEEE 802.15-basedwireless communication, Zigbee communication, INSETEON communication,X10 communication protocol, Z-Wave communication, Bluetoothcommunication, WIFI communication, IEEE 802.11-based communication, acommunication within a frequency range of 900 MHz-2.5 GHz; Infraredcommunication device, 6LowPAN communication, power line communicationdevice, RFID communication, NFC communication, IEEE 802.16-basedcommunication, Infrared-based communication, various proprietarywireless communications, or any combination thereof.

According to a further aspect, resource information can includeinformation that can be processed and used by a resource, informationthat can be used to manage a resource, or any combination of thereof,and can include information received from a variety of sources.According to an aspect, resource information can include customerengagement information, media management information, media availabilityinformation, resource management information, media data, energy data,control data, content, media content, advertisements, videos, music,animated advertisements, energy management information, profileinformation, user information, device information, provisioninginformation, device identifiers, device names, model numbers, serialnumbers, activation data such as date and time first used, IP addresses,coordinates of a site, coordinates of a resource, device drivers, andvarious other types of information described herein.

According to a further aspect, resource information can also includeenergy management information which can include any combination ofinformation or data to manage energy production, consumption,curtailment, load shedding, purchase decisions, demand responsedecisions, or any combination thereof. Resource information can includeany combination of real-time congestion data, energy transmission lineoperating conditions, syncrophasor data, firm owned alternative energygenerator operating status, non-firm owned alternative energy generatoroperating status, locational marginal pricing data, congestion revenuerights data, energy storage capacity, stored energy output capacity,real time energy pricing data, historical energy pricing data, real timenodal demand data, historical nodal demand data, real time zonal demanddata, historical zonal demand data, external market demand data,historical external market demand data, nodal price data, real timeenergy price data, real time energy demand data, historical energydemand data, historical energy price data, firm owned alternative energygenerator data, non-firm owned alternative energy generator data, est.firm owned alternative energy generator output schedule, estimatednon-firm owned alternative energy generator output schedule, macroenvironmental data, micro environmental data, real-time grid congestiondata, historical grid congestion data, renewable energy creditinformation, carbon credit cap and trade pricing information, fixed andvariable costs for operating alternative energy generators, productiontax credit (PTC) pricing information, investment tax credit (ITC)information, federal grant information, credit-to-grant comparisonanalysis data, PTC to ITC analysis data, interest/finance data foralternative energy generators, asset depreciation schedules, availablesolar and wind output capacity, distributed energy production schedulingdata, feed-in tariff data, baseline energy generator data, loadutilization data, transmission efficiency data, congestion right revenuedata, priority dispatch data, federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS)data, state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) data, net-metering data,current or forecasted % coal production data, current or forecasted %natural gas production data, current or forecasted % green house gasproduction data, current or future coal pricing data, current or futurenatural gas pricing data, current or future oil pricing data, current orfuture energy transmission pricing data, forecasted transmission pricesetting events, virtual capacity data, historical site performance data,seasonal weather and performance data, aggregate scheduling demand data,collaborative demand response data, historical device consumption data,forecasted device consumption data, or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect, a resource can be configured in variousways and can include one or any combination of services and capabilitiesto access and use resource information including but not limited toenvironment management capabilities, customer engagement capabilities,energy management capabilities, environment management capabilities,information service capabilities, account management capabilities, cloudbased services, advertisement services, media management services, homesecurity services, natural language processing capabilities, broadbandservices, update services, communication services such as instantmessaging, pub-sub services, SMS services, mobile internet services,mobile gateway services, WAP services, update services, mobile mediaservices, mobile advertisement services, location based services,location based advertisement services, geo-fencing services, weatherservices, demand response services, virtual demand response schedulingservices, utility services, application services, third partyapplication services, social media services, or other services orcapabilities that can be used to manage one or more resources.

As described herein, a flow charted technique, method, or algorithm maybe described in a series of sequential actions. Unless expressly statedto the contrary, the sequence of the actions and the party performingthe actions may be freely changed without departing from the scope ofthe teachings. Actions may be added, deleted, or altered in severalways. Similarly, the actions may be re-ordered or looped. Further,although processes, methods, algorithms or the like may be described ina sequential order, such processes, methods, algorithms, or anycombination thereof may be operable to be performed in alternativeorders. Further, some actions within a process, method, or algorithm maybe performed simultaneously during at least a point in time (e.g.,actions performed in parallel), can also be performed in whole, in part,or any combination thereof.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including, ” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, system, or apparatus that comprises a list of featuresis not necessarily limited only to those features but may include otherfeatures not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, system, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to thecontrary, “or” refers to an inclusive-or and not to an exclusive-or. Forexample, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: Ais true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

Also, the use of “a” or “an” is employed to describe elements andcomponents described herein. This is done merely for convenience and togive a general sense of the scope of the invention. This descriptionshould be read to include one or at least one and the singular alsoincludes the plural, or vice versa, unless it is clear that it is meantotherwise. For example, when a single device is described herein, morethan one device may be used in place of a single device. Similarly,where more than one device is described herein, a single device may besubstituted for that one device.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materialssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of embodiments of the present invention, suitablemethods and materials are described below. All publications, patentapplications, patents, and other references mentioned herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety, unless a particular passageis cited. In case of conflict, the present specification, includingdefinitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, andexamples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

To the extent not described herein, many details regarding specificmaterials, processing acts, and circuits are conventional and may befound in textbooks and other sources within the computing, electronics,and software arts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a distributed resource managementsystem configurable to manage resources at a site according to an aspectof the disclosure. Resource management system, illustrated generally at100, can include a mobile device 102, capable of being connected to aresource management platform 104 using the Internet 106 andcommunication 108. Resource management system 100 can also include cloudservices 110 accessible using communication 112, and public resources114 accessible using communication 116.

According to an aspect, mobile device 102 can include various types ofdevices that can be portable, such as an iPhone® device, Android ®device, Blackberry ® device, Windows ® device, or any other mobiledevice, and can also include a tablet device such as an iPad®, Kindle®,and the like, a portable computer such as a laptop, portable electronicssuch as cameras, wireless radios, wireless speakers, or various otherportable devices capable of being used with resource management system100.

According to an aspect, communication with resource management platform104 can include using any combination of communication described above.For example, mobile device 102 can communicate directly with resourcemanagement platform 104 using a local WIFI or 802.11 basedcommunication, Bluetooth communication, or various other local wirelesscommunication, or any combination thereof. According to a furtheraspect, mobile device 102 can communicate within a mobile environmentusing a subscriber based wireless data communication network such as a3G network, 4G network, EDGE network, a cellular network, other wirelessdata communication, or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 104 can include aplatform, system, controller, device, methods, or any combinationthereof to provide resource management capabilities. For example,resource management platform 104 can include a resource having aresource manager configured to manage and coordinate management ofresources and resource information between one or more resources. Asdescribed herein and illustrated and described in FIGS. 2-15 areexamples of resources, methods, interfaces that can deploy portions orall of resource management platform 104. According to an aspect,resource management platform 104 can be realized as a resource managerconfigured to manage one or more resources at a site.

According to a further aspect, mobile device 102 and resource managementplatform 104 can include embedded logic to enable an equivalent of oneor more cloud services. For example, resource management platform 104can include an energy server, customer engagement services, or variousother types of services within resource management platform 104.According to an aspect, resource management platform 104 can include aLinux or other operating system capable of deploying a server, such asApache, that can be used to provide cloud-based services. According to afurther aspect, resource management platform 104 can be accessed as acloud service in a similar manner as cloud services 110 by devicesexternal to resource management platform 104.

According to another aspect, public resources 114 can include hostedresources that are generally publically available, or with minimaleffort, can be accessed and utilized. Resources can include storageresources, communication infrastructure resources such as PUB-SUB, XMPP,Instant Messaging (IM), SMS messaging, TCP/IP, Internet communicationinfrastructure and protocol such as IPv4, IPv6 to support, in additionto other features, unique addresses for resources, and various othertypes of public resources that can be used in combination withcommunicating information using Internet 106.

According to another aspect, resource management system 100 can includeusing one or more cloud services 110. Cloud services 110 can be hostedby the same provider or in other instances, cloud services 110 can behosted by multiple providers and accessed as needed or desired invarious combinations. Cloud services 110 can include services describedabove and can also include one or combinations of, but are not limitedto, sources that can include resource information such as a streamingmusic library source, streaming radio source, streaming video source,pay-per-view media source, paid music source, subscription servicessource, on-line photo source, energy management source, customerengagement source, utility source, thermostat management source,web-services source, home security source, website, customer engagementsource, savings tip source, video source, software update source, astreaming music library source, or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, resource management system 100 may be providedas a cloud-less system, capable of enabling use without depending oncloud services 110. For example, if energy management services are to bedeployed, such as thermostat or environment control, resource managementplatform 104 can include embedded services capable of providingthermostat control. In other forms, mobile device 102 can include one ormore applications that may use foreground and/or background processingcapable of communicating directly with resource management platform 104using public resources 114. As such, cloud services 110 need not beaccessed or utilized thereby reducing the need and expense associatedwith maintaining hosted cloud services 110 for energy managementservices, thermostat control, or various other resource managementmethods or software.

According to another aspect, resource management system 100 can be usedto manage multiple sites. For example, a user may have a primaryresidence and a secondary residence, business site, or various othertypes of sites that may have resources that need to be managed. As such,resource management system 100 can allow for adding and deletingmultiple resource management platforms 104 as needed or desired. Forexample, as mobile device 102 moves away from a first resourcemanagement platform 104 at a site, an alarm, HVAC system or variousother resources can be altered in response to detecting mobile device102 leaving. As mobile device 102 approaches a second location having aresource management platform 104, operating conditions of resourcesaccessible to resource management platform 104 can be altered asdesired.

According to another aspect, resource management system 100 can be usedto access resources to manage third party resources. For example, a usermay have elderly parents or may be a care taker, physician, or the likehaving an interest in the health of an elderly person. As such, a thirdparty resource such as a heart monitor, blood pressure monitor,prescription monitor, or various other health monitoring resources canbe accessed via third party access. As such, a user in a remote locationcan be provided information in near real time about the condition of apatient or loved one. In other forms, an alarm system, video monitoringsystem, or various other resources of the elderly person can be accessedby the user and need not be limited to remote health monitoringresources.

According to a further aspect of the disclosure, resource managementsystem 100 can include public resources 114 communication infrastructureto communicate information. For example, public resources 114 caninclude publish-subscribe (PUB-SUB) communication infrastructure toenable various types of communication such as chat rooms, instantmessaging, and the like. For example, a publish-subscribe communicationcan include a messaging pattern where senders of messages, calledpublishers, need not program resource information to be sent directly tospecific receivers, called subscribers. Instead, published resourceinformation can be characterized into classes, without knowledge ofwhat, if any, subscribers there may be. Similarly, subscribers expressinterest in one or more classes, and only receive messages that are ofinterest, without knowledge of what, if any, publishers there are.According to an aspect, a resource management platform 104 can include apublisher, and mobile device 102 or other resource can include asubscriber. A PUB-SUB messaging service can be provided and used bypublic resources 114. As such, public resources 114 hosting a PUB-SUBcommunication resource can be accessed by resource management system 100to communicate information between any combination or number ofresources including, but not limited to, cloud services 110, mobiledevice 102, resource management platform 104, and various otherresources described herein. Resource management system 100 accessing aPUB-SUB resource allows for efficient communication of informationwithout having to rely on a polling or other method of communication.For example, mobile device 102 can subscribe to resource managementplatform 104 hosting a virtual chat room. As such, mobile device 102 canpublish resource information, such as XML encoded data, media contentand references, resource information, media management information,energy management information, and various other types of informationthat can be used to manage a resource in near real-time due to thenature and performance of instant messaging and PUB-SUB technology. Assuch, resource management platform 104 can host a chat room that canallow for communication of resource information in an efficient mannerand not have to rely on cloud services 110 to efficiently process andmanage resource information. Although described as mobile device 102subscribing to a chat room hosted by resource management platform 104,other embodiments can include a chat room being hosted by various otherresources provided by resource management system 100, including but notlimited to cloud services 110, mobile device 102, resource managementplatform 104, public resources 114, or various other resources orcombination of resources that can be access using resource managementsystem 100.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 104 caninclude energy management services as a part of resource managementplatform 104 and/or within a resource at a site. For example, a resourcesuch as an Internet gateway device can include an energy server capableof altering operating conditions at a location to alter energy use for auser. According to an aspect, an Internet gateway, energy service,thermostat controller, lighting controller, media controller, and alarmcontroller can be provided within a single device. Resource managementplatform 104 can be used to process resource information for eachresource and initiate control of each system using the same platform. Assuch, a user need not have multiple gateways, devices, controllers, orvarious other electronic devices distributed throughout the home toinitiate control of a resource.

According to a further aspect, resource management system 100 can allowfor or enable access to one or more on-line streaming media sources,such as Pandora, Slacker Radio, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, Weather services,YouTube, and any other combination of cloud services 110 accessible byresource management system 100. For example, resource managementplatform 104 can include encoded logic capable of accessing an APIhosted by Pandora, and can manage streaming audio to one or morewireless speaker resources within a home. Resource management platform104 can act as a bridge between Pandora and a wireless speaker, or canalso act as a temporary bridge to initiate direct communication with aspeaker resource. Additionally, a user may be able to select music froma mobile device or other resource capable of allowing selection of musicfrom Pandora's hosted services, and communicating to a speaker resource.

According to a further aspect, mobile device 102 can also includeproximity control functionality. For example, proximity control caninclude using various types of location services to detect a location ofmobile device 102, and outputting resource information based on thelocation, distance, travel time, travel speed, and various otherparameters that can be determined using location services. According toan aspect, other web services that may be cloud services 110 can also beaccessed upon detecting a location of mobile device 102. For example,resource information may be communicated in response to a locationupdate, and in addition, cloud service 110 may include a web service toprovide information based on the current location (e.g. weather service,geotag service, geoad service, traffic service, regional media service,etc.). In this manner, location based information can be regionallygenerated based on a location of mobile device 102 in association withproviding resource information, and a greater level of consumerengagement can be provided to the user.

According to another aspect, resource management system 100 can alsoinclude a video management service as a portion of cloud services 110.For example, video management services can include various types ofvideos or customer engagement content to be communicated to a specificresource management platform 104. According to an aspect, an energy tipvideo can be generated in a specific region for a specific utilitymarket. As such, the energy tip video can be communicated to theresource management platform 104 and displayed using a resource at asite accordingly. According to another aspect, an energy tip video canbe communicated to mobile device 102 allowing a user to view the energytip video in a mobile environment. As a user views an energy tip video,the tip can be stored, saved, deleted, shared into a social network, asdesired. Although described as an energy tip video, various other typesof videos can be created and managed using cloud services 110 having avideo management service.

According to a further aspect, video management services can alsoinclude managing video that may have been created by a user. Forexample, storage of videos can be provided using cloud services 110. Inother forms, video management service can be provided within resourcemanagement platform 104. Video management service can be provided toefficiently store content on-line, using local resources, remoteresources, or any combination thereof. A video management service can beused to enable limited access to other resource management platforms104, mobile device 102, or various combinations thereof that have acommon subscription. As such, a user may record a video using mobiledevice 102 and desire to communicate the video to a resource managementplatform owned by a separate user. As such, the user can temporarilyaccess the non-owned resource management platform 104 as a visitor andupload content.

According to a further aspect, resource management system 100 can alsoinclude an advertisement management service to manage advertisements forthird parties. For example, third party advertisements can be accessedusing an advertisement management service and communicated usingresource management system 100. For example, an advertisement for alocal energy auditor can be communicated using resource managementsystem 100.

According to a further aspect, resource management system 100 caninclude a video management service that can be used to manage videotutorials that can be used to educate users on how to use a resourcewhen available. For example, a user may purchase a new HDTV. Resourcemanagement platform 104 may be used to identify the new HDTV being addedand may enable display of video tutorials on how to use the newresource. In some forms, the tutorial can be generated by HDTVmanufacturer and resource management platform 100 can be used toidentify where the video tutorial may be stored.

According to another aspect, an HDTV may be detected by resourcemanagement platform 104 using a near field communication (NFC) device(described herein) and have encoded information about access to userguides, tutorials, accessories available via an on-line store, orvarious other types of specialized information. Resource managementplatform 104 can be used to read and process the encoded information,and communicate the HDTV information to the user using various resourcesavailable to a user and resource management platform 104.

According to another aspect, resource management system 100 canprovision resources automatically. For example, a new resource may beadded to resource management platform 104 using mobile device 102 and anNFC device embedded within a new resource. For example, a user maypurchase a new appliance and may add the appliance to resourcemanagement platform 104 using mobile device 102 and NFC device of theappliance. When mobile device 102 recognizes the information on the NFCdevice, additional content can be accessed using cloud services 110. Forexample, mobile device 102 may include a tablet such as an iPad, Nook,Galaxy tablet, and the like. Upon recognition, resource managementsystem 100 can access an electronic guide, such as an eBook, video, orvarious other forms of digital media, to step a user through a quickstart, set-up, user manual, registration or other forms of digital mediathat can be used to engage a consumer. Cloud services 110 can include anup-to-date listing of available resources that can be accessed usingdata encoded within NFC device and RFID tags.

According to another aspect, a product warranty, registration, support,and various other aspects to purchasing a resource can also be managedusing resource management system 100. For example, as a new resource isadded to resource management system 100, registration information canautomatically be sent to a manufacturer to register a product orresource. For example a user can provide a unique identifier of theresource, and in other forms an NFC can have information encoded, andresource management system 100 can register the new resource usingencoded information and cloud services 110 used to register theirproduct. According to another form, resource management system 100 canbe used to track when a warranty may be expiring for a resource, and maycommunicate a message to a user about an expiring warranty. In someforms, resource management system 100 can provide a user access topurchasing an extended warranty to cover the resource. In this manner, aresource can be protected under a warranty as needed or desired.

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of exemplary resources capable of beingmanaged according to an aspect of the disclosure. A site 200 can includea resource management platform 202, configured to manage one or moreresources at site 200. According to an aspect, resource managementplatform 202 can be configured to manage one or more resources at site200, and in one form, can be realized as provided as a part of aresource, or as a separate device, such as resource management platform104 described in FIG. 1, resource management platform 300 described inFIG. 3, resource management platform described in FIG. 4, or any otherportion, system, method, device, controller, or any combination thereofcapable of managing a resource. Additionally, site 200 is illustrated asa single site however it should be understood that multiple sites withmultiple resources can be managed as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 202 can be used tomanage a thermostat 204, a broadband system 206, appliance 208, mobiledevice 210, audio device 212, video device 214, lighting system 216,media server 218, alarm system 220, entertainment system 222, cleanenergy resource 224, battery storage resource 226, charge stationresource 228, an automobile 230, and any other system, device,controller, apparatus, portal, or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 202 can communicatedirectly with a resource, and in some forms, one or more resources cancommunicate directly with another. For example, TSTAT 204 can be used tocommunicate temperature information directly to entertainment system222. As described herein, resource management platform 202 can be usedto provision, add, remove, modify, or alter use of resources. Throughproviding a platform to enable seamless integration and management ofresources at a site, and conveying site information among resources,efficient utilization and management of resources at a site can berealized.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management platformconfigured to deploy a resource manager according to an aspect of thedisclosure. A resource management platform 300 can include a processor302, a security module 304 that can be integrated within processorand/or provided external to processor 302. Resource management platform300 can be provided as a resource, a network device, a portal, acustomer engagement portal, an energy management system, an environmentmanagement system, a resource manager, or any combination thereof andcan be realized as a system, a controller, a network device or anycombination thereof capable of deploying portions or all of resourcemanagement platform 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 and operable to useresource information to manage a resource. Resource management platform300 can be provided as a resource manager, a resource to be managed, ora combination of both.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 300 can includeprocessor 302 which can include an ARM based processor, and in someforms can include Freescale® i.MX-based processor, Kinetis processor, anIntel Atom® processor, or various other types of processors configurableto deploy a resource manager, resource management platform, a resource,or any combination thereof. Resource management platform 300 can alsoinclude an operating system, such as Linux, that can be executed byprocessor 302, and in one aspect, can include a Java environment toprocess Java code and applications. Other software environments can alsobe supported instead of, or in addition to, as needed or desired.

Resource management platform 300 can also include a power managementunit (PMU) 306 configured to power various components of resourcemanagement platform 300. PMU 306 can also include monitoringcapabilities to ensure sufficient power is available from a power source(not expressly illustrated in FIG. 3) and can initiate alteringoperation of one or more components of resource management platform 300.For example, a speaker sound level, display brightness, wireless radiooperation, or various other higher-level power consuming devices can bealtered using PMU 306 as needed or desired. According to a furtheraspect, PMU 306 can include a power supply capable of providing powerand can include an rechargeable battery. In other forms an externalpower supply can be used. Resource management platform 300 can includean internal or external AC, DC, AC to DC converter power module, or anycombination thereof to power customer engagement portal 300.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 300 caninclude I/O device(s) 308 which can include one or more of displays,buttons, speakers, microphones, cameras, touch sensors, keyboards,pointing devices, or various other types of I/O devices that can provideinput and/or output capabilities. In other forms, various types ofdisplay technologies can be used having single color, multicolor, or anycombination thereof, including, but not limited to LED displays, TFTdisplays, OLED displays, LCD displays, flexible lighting displays,flexible LED displays, thin film over LED, a pico projector, or anycombination thereof. Various types and combinations of touchtechnologies can also be used including, but not limited to, resistivetouch sensors, capacitive touch sensors, motion detecting sensors,infrared sensors, heat sensors, or various other types of sensors thatcan be used to detect an input from a user. According to a furtheraspect, resource management platform 300 can include one or more memorydevices generally illustrated as memory 310. Memory 310 can include anycombination of ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, or various other typesof storage mediums including solid state, optical drives, HDD, or anycombination thereof.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 300 caninclude an interface 312 and one or more communication device(s) 314.One or more communication buses, generally illustrated at 320 can beused to communicate information. Interface 312 can be configured toinclude one or more types of interfaces including, but not limited to aninterface, an information network interface, an external bus interface,an application program interface, a docking interface, or anycombination thereof configurable to be coupled to one or more of buses320 or any combination thereof. According to an aspect, interface 312can be configured to use any combination of hardware, software, orfirmware, and can include any combination or portion of a serial businterface, a network bus interface, a parallel bus interface, aserial—parallel bus interface, a universal serial bus interface,industry standard bus interface, controller area network bus interface,a serial peripheral interface, an HDMI interface, a universalasynchronous receiver transmitter interface, a control bus interface,standard digital input output interface, a proprietary bus interface, orany combination thereof. Additionally, interface 312 can also include aninformation network interface, a network device identifier and profileinformation of module, wireless energy network message information,network protocol configuration data, or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect, interface 312 can include a hardwareinterface configured to be coupled to wiring to control a device and caninclude, for example, relays, light switches, control interfaces,terminal blocks, or various other interfaces that may be needed toconnect resource management platform 300 to a control circuit to managea resource. According to an aspect, a communication interface and acontrol circuit can be combined into the same interface.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 300 can beconfigured to include one or more communication device(s) 314 in moduleor chip form including, but not limited to, power-line communication,wire line communication, wireless communication, Zigbee basedcommunication, INSETEON based communication, X10 based communication,Z-Wave based communication, WiMAX based communication, Bluetooth-basedcommunication, WIFI based communication, 802.11-based communication,802.15-based communication, 802.16-based communication, proprietarycommunication, other communications described herein, or any combinationthereof.

According to an aspect, communication device(s) 314 can also include abroadband device configured to be coupled to a broadband network. Forexample, broadband device can include an Ethernet communication module,a Cable or coaxial-based communication module, and can includecommunication logic to receive and transmit data between resourcemanagement platform 300 and an information network such as a LAN, WAN,local network, the Internet, and the like. According to an aspect, abroadband device can include TCP/IP communication capabilities and canalso be security enabled to transmit SSL data between resourcemanagement platform 300 and an information network.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 300 can alsoinclude an expansion slot (not expressly illustrated) such as a networkinterface card (NIC), Ethernet port, one or more USB interfaces ormini-USB interfaces, an SDIO slot, additional data or plug interfaces,Zigbee and Z-wave slot interfaces, or any combination thereof toincrease memory capacity or other functionality that be added toresource management platform 300.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 300 caninclude interface 312 configured to include a smart energy enabledcommunication interface configured to communicate using a smart energyprotocol and one or more communication devices. According to an aspect,resource management platform 300 can incorporate Smart Energy Profile(SEP) version 2.0, herein incorporated by reference, or various otherupdates to SEP 2.0, and in some forms, previous versions of SEP can alsoco-exist with SEP 2.0 or later versions within resource managementplatform 300. For example, resource management platform 300 can receiveinformation formatted to various versions of SEP standards and processedaccordingly. As such, resource management platform 300 can be used tocomply with Zigbee standards including, but not limited to, buildingautomation, remote control, smart energy, health care, home automation,telecom services, network devices, gateways, or any combination thereofto manage a resource. According to an aspect, various other types ofprofiles or protocols can be used by system 300 and can be updated toadd, delete, and modify as needed and can include any combination of aSmart Energy based profile, a Echonet Lite based profile, a Echonetbased profile, a UPNP based profile, a DLNA based profile, a environmentmanagement based profile, a customer engagement based profile, a AirPlaybased profile, a user profile, a device profile, a system profile, asource profile, customer profile, a site profile, custom or proprietaryprofile, or any combination thereof. According to an aspect, a profilecan include only protocol information specific to a resource. However inother forms, in addition to, or in place of a protocol, profile caninclude additional information that can be used to manage a resourcesuch as resource information, energy management information, informationabout other resources under management, communication infrastructureinformation, or various other types of information to manage a resourceor any combination thereof.

According to a further aspect, communication device(s) 314 can be usedin one or more different operating modes including, but not limited to,a bridge, an access point, a router, a network, an end point, a meshnetwork, or various other types of network topologies and configurationsand needed or desired.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 300 caninclude one or more input sensor(s) 316 capable of providing inputs toresource management platform 300. For example, inputs sensor(s) 316 caninclude temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors, motionsensors, IR sensors, cameras or optical sensors, kinetic sensors, powersensing devices including electronic sensors, including, but not limitedto current sensors, voltage sensors, impedance sensors, microphones, orany combination thereof. Other sensors can also include combinations ofnetwork bandwidth sensors, wireless signal sensors, bit-rate sensorscommunicating data, sensing audio and/or video quality or playbackrates, or various other types of input sensors that can be used tomanage a resource.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 300 can alsoinclude a near field communication (NFC) device 318 that can be providedas a reader, a passive device or tag, or a combination thereof. Forexample, resource management platform 300 can use NFC 318 to add orprovision additional resources that can be accessed and managed byresource manager 320. As such, a new resource can be placed in closeproximity to resource management platform 300 and provisioninginformation can be read using NFC 318. Provisioning information of theadditional resource can then be used as needed. For example,provisioning information can include communication profile information,device identifiers, or various other types of information that can beused to provision an additional resource. In some aspects, resourcemanagement platform 300 can access another resource, such as a localresource and/or cloud resource to download information using data readfrom an NFC device of the additional resource. In another aspect,information read from the NFC device can include an encoded URL,credentials, or various other types of information to enable resourcemanagement platform 300 to access provisioning information. As such,resource management platform 300 can provision additional resourcesusing hosted or cloud-based provisioning information.

According to a further aspect, NFC device 318 can be scanned by a thirdparty NFC reader interested in resource management platform 300. Forexample, model information, website information, mobile application,advertisement information, pricing information, a review site capable ofproviding reviews about resource management platform 300, or anycombination of resource information can be encoded within NFC device andcommunicated to a device after installed at a site.

According to another aspect, NFC device 318 can include encoded logic,such as a software program, a driver, or other type of logic, that canbe communicated to memory 310 and used by resource management platform300. According to another aspect, NFC 318 can be used as a passivedevice and read by a separate reader. For example, a mobile device (notshow), remote control or wand, tablet device, and the like can includean NFC reader capable of reading information stored within NFC device318. As such, resource management platform 300 can be identified andprovisioned using an external resource during installation oractivation. For example, power need not be applied to resourcemanagement platform 300 as NFC device 318 can be powered using anexternal NFC reader. For example, a mobile device may include an NFCreader that can be accessed by an application being used by the mobiledevice. Upon reading contents within NFC 318, resource managementplatform 300 can be added to the mobile application and managedaccordingly. For example, profile information specific to resourcemanagement platform 300 can be communicated to a mobile device andpaired to the mobile device. In this manner, a user need not enter anauthentication code, pairing code, or other information to authenticatethe relationship during provisioning of resource management platform300. Additionally, a mobile device having a reader may be able tocommunicate information to NFC device 318 and store information withinNFC device 318. For example, mobile device may include resourceinformation about other resources associated with the mobile app and asite, and in some instance may be able to provide network credentials toallow resource management platform 300 to join a network when power isapplied to resource management platform 300. As such, a memory device ofNFC device 318 can be updated to include resource information andcommunicated using an interface 312 and bus 320 when power is applied toresource management platform 300.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 300 cancommunicate with an external information network to receive and store aplurality of data files in memory 310. For example, any combination ofdata files, video files, music files, weather forecasts, sports scores,informational or instructional videos, advertisements, current news orany other information received from a plurality of sources accessible toresource management platform 300.

According to further aspect, resource management platform 300 can beused to manage energy use at a site. For example, thermostat control canbe incorporated into resource management platform 300 to control a HVACunit disposed at the site. In addition, resource management platform 300can be configured to convert an incoming message received from awireless energy network (not expressly illustrated in FIG. 3) into XMLenabled output data. Processor 302 can also format an outgoing messageto be output to a wireless energy network using XML enabled input data.According to an aspect, XML enabled input data can include resourceinformation such as a network device identifier of a network deviceaccessible using a wireless energy network.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 300 can accessresource information, such as a network device profile and use thenetwork device profile to output a message receivable by a specificresource or network device. For example, network device data can beformatted using a network device profile of a specific network type ofthe wireless energy network. In some forms, a network device profile maynot include information sufficient to output network device data.

As such, profile modifiers can be provided and can include profilemodification data of the resource. Resource management platform 300 canbe used to access, create and manage operating conditions, homeprofiles, user profiles, device profiles, user schedules, proximitydetection, demand response preferences, energy savings preferences,other control settings, view data files sent from the customerengagement platform, or any combination thereof. Other settings andoperating conditions can be accessed, monitored, or managed as needed ordesired.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 300 can beconfigured to output video using a pico projector and speakers. Forexample, a user can select video content to be output using a mobiledevice or other resource. Resource management platform 300 can initiateoutputting the video content using a pico projector onto a screen, wall,or other surface as desired. In this manner, if a user desired to outputa stored video, streamed video, and the like, a user may select andoutput video. For example, resource management platform 300 can beconfigured to include a wired or wireless microphone for input and auser may select a karaoke video stored on YouTube® or other source. Assuch, a pico projector can display the video and a user can sing alongas desired. In this manner, a video karaoke machine can be realized byresource management platform 300. According to a further aspect, a touchpad can be provided and a touch controller and pointer can be displayedusing a pico projector. In this manner, a GUI can be output by a picoprojector and selection of content can be done using the touch pad anddisplay output by a pico projector.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a resource management platformconfigured to manage a media resource and a smart energy resourceaccording to an aspect of the disclosure. According to an aspect, aresource management platform 400 can be provided as a resource, anetwork device, a portal, a customer engagement portal, an energymanagement system, an environment management system, a resource manager,or any combination thereof and can be realized as a system, acontroller, a network device or any combination thereof capable ofdeploying portions or all of resource management platform 300illustrated in FIG. 3 and operable to use resource information to managea resource. Resource management platform 400 can be provided as aresource manager, a resource to be managed, or a combination of both.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 400 includesa media center 402 configurable to be coupled to a docking station 404using a docking interface 406. Docking interface 406 can be used toprovide communication between media center 402 and docking station 404and according to an aspect, can use a serial, parallel, or various othercombinations of communication. According to an aspect, docking interface406 can use high level data link control (HDLC) in normal response mode(NRM) or a connectionless communication protocol to communicateinformation between the media center 402 and the docking station 404. AnXON-XOFF asynchronous flow control can be used between the media center402 and docking station 404 at the physical layer of the communicationstack. Through the use of HDLC-NRM mode, a reduction in noise can berealized resulting in reliable data communication between media center402 and docking station 404. Other control protocols can also be used asneeded or desired.

According to an aspect, media center 402 can include a resourcemanagement platform and docking station 404 that can include athermostat configured to control a remote unit such as the HVAC unit, aheat pump, other appliances, resources, or any combination thereof.According to an aspect, media center 402 can include a processor 408, amemory 410, one or more communication devices 412, one or moreinterfaces 414, a video player 416, a display and speakers 418, a soundamplifier such as a Class D Amp 420 and an NFC 422. According to anaspect, display 418 can include a pico projector capable of displayinginformation on a wall near resource management platform 400. Accordingto an aspect, resource management platform 400 can include dockingstation 404 which can include a dock processor 424, a thermostat control426, a data bus 428, docking station communication devices 430, a powermanager 432, and one or more input sensors 434.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 400 can be capableof streaming music from within the site while providing comfort controland allows for the enjoyment of an iTunes® or other music library atresource management platform 400. In some aspects, media center 402 canbe provided as a mobile unit, and thus the integration of AirPlay®allows for easy enjoyment of the music library in any location or roomof the site at any given time. Incorporating this technology furtherincreases the multimedia capability of resource management platform 400and increases the utility of the unit. As previously mentioned, mediacenter 402 can be docked with docking station 404 and output music at aspecific thermostat control installation site.

In another aspect, media can be preloaded and stored in memory 410. Forexample, media can include instructional videos regarding theappropriate ways to use the thermostat for achieving proper use andeducating a user with regard to the most efficient operation. This isadvantageous because it allows a user to access the instructional videoat an appropriate time while also improving the communication betweenthird parties, utility providers and customers which can leads toimproved energy management and good will.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of views of a resource management platformaccording to an aspect of the disclosure. A resource managementplatform, illustrated generally at 500, can include a display screen 502such as a resistive or capacitive touch LCD, a light sensor 504 andspeakers 506, 510. Resource management platform 500 can also includespeaker covers 508, 512 covering speakers 506, 510 respectively.Resource management platform 500 can be configured as a media centersuch as media center 402 generally described in FIG. 4.

According to an aspect, a rear view 514 of resource management platform500 illustrates a rear cavity 516 and docking interface 518 operable tobe coupled to a docking station, such as docking station 630 describedin FIG. 6 below. Resource management platform 500 also includes a soundchamber 520, 522 sized to enhance sound quality of speakers 506, 510. Aside view 524 of resource management platform 500 illustrates a fronthousing 526 coupled to a rear housing 528.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of views of a docking resource according toan aspect of the disclosure. Docking station 630 can include a frontsurface having a docking interface receptacle 634 operable to be coupledto docking interface 518 of FIG. 5. Docking station 630 can beconfigured as a thermostat enabled docking station such as dockingstation 404 generally described in FIG. 4. Docking station 630 can alsoinclude a thermostat adjuster 636, a reset button 638, and a terminalblock 640. According to an aspect, terminal block 640 can be configuredas described in Applicant's concurrently filed U.S. patent applicationSer. No. ______, entitled “Terminal Connector for a Wall Mounted Device”and filed on Aug. 30, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference.Docking station 630 also include an aperture 642 configured to allowaccess to thermostat wiring (not expressly illustrated). An angled view646 of docking station 630 illustrates docking station cavity 650 andfront housing 648 configured to be inserted into cavity 516 of resourcemanagement platform 500. A side view 653 illustrated a front cover 652and rear cover 656 of docking station 630.

During use, docking station 630 can be mounted to a wall using mountingholes 644 and screws with anchors as needed (not expressly shown).Terminal block 640 can be connected to an environment control resourcesuch as an HVAC system. Various types of environment control resourcescan be supported including, but not limited to, heat pumps,conventional, electric, gas, oil, propane, geothermal, or various othertypes of resources that can include single or multiple stagecapabilities. According to an aspect, an HVAC system or similar resourcecan be used to provide 24 VAC to docking station 630. Resourcemanagement platform 500 can be docked to docking station 630, andcapable of receiving power using docking interface receptacle 634.According to an aspect, docking interface receptacle 634 can providepower and can further connect one or more data buses, control lines, andvarious other types of interfaces that can be used between dockingstation 630 and resource management platform 500.

According to a further aspect, upon providing power to resourcemanagement platform 500, docking station 630 when connected to anenvironmental control system resource can be used to control temperatureset-points, operating modes, and the like. As such, resource managementplatform 500 need not be connected to docking station 630 to control anenvironmental control system resource. According to another aspect,docking station 630 can provide power to resource management platform500 to charge a rechargeable battery housed within resource managementplatform 630 (not expressly illustrated). As such, resource managementplatform 500 can be removed from docking station 630 and used as aportable resource management platform.

According to another aspect, docking station 630 can be used to dockmore than one type of unit. For example, a lower cost and fewer featureset unit (not expressly illustrated) can be used to control or displayoperating information of an environmental control system or other typeof system docking station 630 may engage. As such a lower cost resourcemanagement platform 500 can be provided. In other forms, docking station630 can include portions or all of resource management platform's 500functionality. According to a further aspect, a cover (not expresslyillustrated) can be coupled to docking interface receptacle and used tocover docking station 630. According to one aspect, multiple decorativetypes of covers can be used to cover docking station 630. Additionally,docking station 630 can include a communication module capable of beingaccessed to alter an operating condition of docking station 630. In thismanner, a user need not access docking station 630 to alter an operatingcondition and can use remote resources, such as mobile devices, tablets,computers, web interfaces, and the like, to alter an operating conditionof docking station 630.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 500 caninclude mutli-media output capabilities. For example, display 502 canoutput pictures, animated graphics, video and the like. Speakers 506,510 can be used to output audio associated with video being played andin some aspects, can be used to output music stored locally, remotelyaccessed, streamed music from local sources, cloud based sources, or anycombination thereof. According to a further aspect, when music only isbeing played by resource management platform 500, screen 502 can bedimmed or a backlight of screen 502 can be turned off to allow forreduced energy consumption. Screen 502 and speakers 506, 510 allow forimproved customer engagement through the use of multi-media rich videos,such as energy tips, video tutorials, animated weather, and variousother forms of rich multi-media. According to another aspect, resourcemanagement platform 500 can output media while providing environmentalcontrol of an environment control resource.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 500 can beused to manage video content that may be output using display 502 orother resources accessible to resource management platform 500. Forexample, when a new energy tip or other type of information video may beavailable for a user to view, resource management platform 500 canprovide an indicator, such as graphic indicator that may be animated, toindicate that a new video may be available. Upon a user viewing a newvideo, resource management platform 500 can remove the indicator asneeded or desired. As such, content and use thereof can be managed byresource management platform 500.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 500 caninclude a custom graphical user interface environment to displayinformation, access applications, output applications, provideinteraction, and the like. For example, custom animations can includetwo and three dimensional animation effects to increase a user'sexperience. According to an aspect, resource management platform 500 canuse custom animated graphics and sound to create a rich environment toengage consumers and users.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 500 can beused to provide multiple language support. For example, resourcemanagement platform 500 may allow for selection of a specific languageto be used. According to other forms, selection of a language can beprovided using another resource, such as a mobile device, tablet,computer, web interface, or other resource. Upon a user selecting alanguage, resource management platform 500 can update a language profileand output the selected language as needed. In other forms, a user mayalso select units to be output as well, including, but not limited tooutputting temperature in degrees of Fahrenheit or Celsius. Othersettings can also be selected and shared using resource managementplatform 500.

According to an aspect, resource management platform 500 can alsoinclude a sound manager capable of providing equalizer capabilities. Forexample, resource management platform 500 can include preset audiooutput levels to account for different installation locations at a site.For example, if a unit is installed in a hallway, a user may be able toselect an acoustical preset that would output audio that is optimizedfor a hallway. Various other types of presets can also be providedincluding, game rooms, living rooms, kitchen, bedroom, rooms withcarpet, tile, wood flooring, or various other aspects of a room that canaffect sound quality. A user may be able to select a room type usingresource management platform 500, a mobile device, tablet, webinterface, or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect, resource management platform 500 can alsoprovide additional equalizing, independent of, or in addition to,room-based equalizing. For example, resource management platform 500 maybe able to read meta data of content to be output and can alter anequalizer setting based on the type or genre of media to be output. Forexample, if a jazz-based song is to output, a jazz enhanced equalizationcan be selected by resource management platform and input into a DSPused to process music. Various other genres can also be supported andused as needed or desired. In other forms, video content can also beoutput using enhanced equalization performed using meta data. Forexample, a video that is created to capture someone's attention mayrequire a different equalization than a tutorial video. In other forms,music videos accessed using YouTube, a local resources, or various othervideo sources can include meta data to alter an equalization output.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 500 caninclude one or more microphones. For example, resource managementplatform 500 can include one or more integrated microphones that can beused during a set-up of resource management platform to determineacoustic qualities of an installation location. Sound tones can beoutput by resource management platform 500 and audio output levels foreach speaker, equalization levels, or various other sound managementtechniques or enhancements can be optimized using a microphone.

According to a further aspect, resource management platform 500 caninclude intercom capabilities using a microphone (not expresslyillustrated). For example, a user may be able to speak into a microphoneand further select an end device or resource to output a selected voicemessage in real time. For example, a unit that may be installed upstairsmay be used to select a downstairs unit located in a kitchen or otherlocation. As such, a user can communicate with another individual in aseparate part of a building. In other forms, a video camera (notexpressly illustrated) may also be provided with resource managementplatform 500 and can be used to capture and output streaming video toanother resource to provide a video intercom device as a part ofplatform 500. According to a further aspect, using a video camera,resource management platform 500 can be used as a video phone and candeploy video phone capabilities and/or can be used to support thirdparty video phone applications such as Skype, Facetime, and the like. Inthis manner, video phone and/or intercom capabilities can be deployedand used to communicate with units within a site, and also units orresources that may be installed at another location. For example, anintercom application can be used with PUB-SUB communication to enhancecommunication between devices that may be selected or activated usingPUB-SUB and chat room capabilities.

FIG. 7 illustrates block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure. A user interface 700, can be deployed using a mobiledevice, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 700. Portions orall of user interface 700 can also be provided as a stand aloneinterface or application, an Internet or Browser based interface orapplication, or any combination thereof. User interface 700 can be usedto display various types of resource information, including, but notlimited to providing an environment management user interface andsettings that can be used to display information, environment settingsor various other types of settings and information or any combinationthereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 700 can include a main displaysection 702 and a navigation menu 704. Navigation menu 704 can include ahome button 706, a music button 707, a device button 708, a proximitybutton 710, and an energy tips button 712. Additional buttons can beadded to navigation menu 704 and an associated user interface as neededor desired. User interface 700 can also include a temperature or comfortsettings slider region 714 and a current readings 716 of a location orzone of a resource. A current set-point 720 can also be displayed. Userinterface 700 can also include an animation 724 that is configured toengage a user and provide a user feedback on how a resource is currentlybeing managed. For example, animation 724 can include green leavesflowing from bottom to top that may increase in height as a userconserves energy through setting comfort settings slider 714 to aconservation based setting. According to another aspect, slider region714 can include button 732 having a lit region 722 that alters in coloras button is moved along slider region 714. For example, as button 732moves to the left or towards a cooler temperature, lit region 722 candisplay a cooler color temperature gradient. Similarly, as button 732may be moved right, lit region 722 can alter a color and display a greencolored gradient as slider is moved towards a conservation setting. Inthis manner, a user of user interface 700 may be engaged throughinteractions with user interface 700.

According to a further aspect, user interface 700 can include a settingsselector 726 that can be selected to access specific settings of aresource being displayed within main display section 702. User interface700 can also include a navigation bar 728 indicating a current resourceor site being managed, and a site management button 730 configured toprovide a user access to another site or location having resources.According to an aspect, site management button 730 can also be used tomanage resources at a single site when multiple sites may not bemanaged. According to a further aspect, a user can navigate toadditional resources by swiping or providing a gesture to main displaysection 702, ellipsis 734 can be updated to display which resourceinformation may be currently displayed within main display section 702.According to an aspect, as a different resource may be displayed,various information, comfort settings, management resources, of aresource can be displayed by user interface 700 as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, as a user slides button 732, current readings716 can transition off or out of main display section 702 and currentset-point 720 can replace current readings 716. A value of currentset-point 720 can be increased and decreased as a user slides button732. As a user stops moving button 732, the new value of currentset-point 720 will transition back to upper portion of main displaysection 702 and current readings 716 can be displayed and updated asneeded.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure. A user interface 800 can be deployed using a mobiledevice, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 800. Portions orall of user interface 800 can also be provided as a standalone interfaceor application, an Internet or Browser based interface or application,or any combination thereof. User interface 800 can be used to displayvarious types of resource information, including, but not limited toproviding an environment management user interface and settings that canbe used to display information, environment settings or various othertypes of settings and information or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 800 can include navigationsection 802 capable of displaying a current resource, location of aresource, or any combination of information that can be used to identifya resource. User interface can also include a main display section 804.User interface 800 can be used to modify general settings of a resourceor site. As illustrated, user interface 800 can include a proximitysetting 806, an icon badge setting 808, a mode setting, a comfortsetting 812, an energy savings setting 814, and a schedule button 816operable to enable a user to create a schedule to operate an associatedresource. According to another aspect, user interface 800 can be used tocreate a schedule using a voice command and voice command button 836.For example, a user can select voice command button 836, and userinterface 800 can enable voice command logic capable of initiatingprocessing of a voice command. According to an aspect, a voiceprocessing cloud service can be accessed, such as Nuance or others, andcan be used with user interface 800. For example, upon selecting voicecommand button 836, a voice prompt can say “would you like to add aschedule?”. A user can respond by saying “Yes”. A voice response of theuser interface can include “Please say the start time”, “Please say theend time”, “Please say the temperature”, or various other responses as auser provides vocal information about settings for a resource. Variousother voice commands and responses can be generated on aresource-by-resource basis and a schedule for a resource can created,modified, and deleted as needed or desired. Additionally, a graphicalschedule can be created and updated automatically as a user provides avoice control scheduling input. Upon a schedule being created, portionsor all of a schedule can be communicated to a resource, resourcemanager, or any combination thereof to manage a resource.

According to an aspect, user interface 800 can also include a savebutton 820 to save changes, and a back button 822 to navigate back toprevious screen. User interface 800 can also include a energy savingicon 824 and a comfort icon 826, a comfort slider button 828 and comfortslider lite 828, a energy savings slider button 834 and energy sliderlite 830.

During operation, a user can set a comfort temperature using comfortslider button 832 to a desired temperature when a user arrives home.Additionally, a user can set an energy saving temperature using energysaving slider button 834 to a warmer temperature to increase energysavings. For example, a user may desire a temperature to increase fivedegrees when not at home. According to an aspect, as a user provides atemperature that provides increased savings, energy savings icon 824 canbe altered to indicate greater savings are being achieved. In thismanner, a user engagement can be created by providing a visual feedbackto a user when providing settings.

According to a further aspect, proximity setting 806 can be enabled ordisabled as desired. For example, when enabled, location based servicescan be used to alter an operating condition of a resource. According toa further aspect, if a user enables icon badge switch 808, anapplication icon can be updated to display a current operating conditionof a resource (e.g. temperature, sound on/off, lights on/off, dooropen/closed, etc.). According to another aspect, an icon badge caninclude updating a social media status, updating a widget or otherelement displayed on another device, or various other methods orcombinations of methods of displaying an operating status using a badge.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface 900 configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure. A user interface 900 can be deployed using a mobiledevice, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 900. Portions orall of user interface 900 can also be provided as a stand aloneinterface or application, an Internet or Browser based interface orapplication, or any combination thereof capable of providing userinterface 900. Portions or all of user interface 900 can be used todisplay various types of resource information, including, but notlimited to providing an environment management user interface andsettings that can be used to display information, environment settingsor various other types of settings and information or any combinationthereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 900 can include a proximitybutton 902 that can be selected to provide user interface 900. Userinterface 900 can include a main display section 904, a map frame 906configured to display a map 916. User interface 900 can also include aset location button 908, a site location pin 910 and associated zones.User interface 900 can also include a distance slider 912 and distanceslider button 914 configured to display a distance above a button. As auser selects a travel distance using distance slider button 914, a newtravel distance can be displayed above distance slider button 914 as itmoves. Additionally, map 916 within map frame 906 can be magnified orde-magnified based on the travel distance selected using distance sliderbutton 914. Additionally, site location pin 910 and associated zones canbe scaled and moved accordingly. For example, as a greater traveldistance may be selected, map 916 can be zoomed out or de-magnified,location pin can be moved, and associated zones can be made smaller.According to a further aspect, a current location 918 can also bedisplayed. In another form, site location pin 910 can include a badge orcall out box to display one or more current operating conditions at asite (not expressly illustrated). According to an aspect, a badge orcall out box can be selected to access resource information and settingof a resource being displayed.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure. A user interface 1000, can be deployed using a mobiledevice, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 1000. Portionsor all of user interface 1000 can also be provided as a standaloneinterface or application, an Internet or Browser based interface orapplication, or any combination thereof. User interface 1000 can be usedto display various types of resource information, including, but notlimited to providing an environment management user interface andsettings that can be used to display information, environment settingsor various other types of settings and information or any combinationthereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 1000 can include a music button1002 that can be selected to provide user interface 1000. User interface1000 can include a main display section 1004, a media controller 1006which includes a play and pause button 1008 which can be provided as atwo state button to play and pause music. A current album cover can alsobe displayed within play and pause button 1008, and in some aspects, anactual control may be displayed when a central portion of play and pausebutton 1008 may be selected. According to a further aspect, when acurrent album cover section may be selected, user interface 1000 candisplay a list of songs available for that album (not expresslyillustrated).

According to an aspect, user interface 1000 can also include a soundlevel selector 1010 to alter an output level of a resource playingmusic, and a back button 1012 to return to a previous song, and a skipbutton 1006 to skip a song and play the next song. User interface 1000also includes a zone selector including a bedroom zone 1016, a livingroom zone 1018, and a dining room zone 1020. Other zones may be added ordeleted as needed or desired. When selected, a zone may be highlighted,and a user can enable or disable outputting music to a resource. Forexample, a user can alter a first level in bedroom zone 1016 to play alow level, have a higher level being output in living room zone 1018,and have an output muted in dining room zone 1020. Various othercombinations can also be provided.

According to a further aspect, user interface 1000 can include a sourceselector 1020 configured to enable selecting a media source to providemusic. For example, upon selecting source selector, a list of availableresources capable of providing media that can be controlled using userinterface 1000 can be displayed. For example, user interface 1000 candisplay resources, located either locally or remotely including anycombination of computer, iPad or tablet, mobile device, music server,cloud services, home stereos, speakers, theatre systems, game systems,or various other types of resources capable of providing media.According to an aspect, media resources that may be displayed can becompliant with one or more protocols, such as AiPlay, DLNA, UPNP, orvarious other types of protocols.

According to an aspect, a resource using user interface 1000 can beprovided as any combination of a controller to control media of a remoteresource configured to output media. In this regard, user interface 1000can be used to select a source and destination, and manage or initiateestablishing a relationship between each. For example, a user may selecta source using source selector button 1026, and can further select adestination to play media, such as bedroom 1016. According to a furtheraspect, user interface 1000 can be used to enable access to locallystored music. As such, locally stored media can be sent to adestination, such as living room 1018. Each zone may have a differentsource, and in some instances the same source as needed or desired.

According to a further aspect, locally stored media content may not beimmediately available, or may not be directly accessible to userinterface 1000. However, user interface 1000 may allow for selectionupon a playlist or listing of music being virtualized by a resource. Forexample, bedroom zone 1016 may include a resource manager (not expresslyshown) that can access a library of the locally stored media. Meta data,cover art, photos, video frames, and other identifying information canbe requested by resource manager. Upon receiving one or more references,available playlists or listings of media, resource manager can send theplaylist or list to user interface 1000. In this manner, if a musicplayer may not be able to be immediately accessed by user interface1000, a resource manager can provide playlists and associatedinformation to enable access.

According to an aspect, user interface can include a list view button1022 capable of providing a listing of music that can be selected toplay. According to another aspect, list view can also be used to displaymultiple playlists that may be available from a single source, multiplesources, or any combination thereof.

According to a further aspect, user interface 1000 can include a voicecommand button 1024. Voice command button 1024 can be used to controlvarious aspects of user interface 1000 and associated resources. Forexample, a user can request to alter a zone where music is playing,alter a sound level, alter an equalization being applied (e.g. bass,treble, custom levels, and others), alter speaker balance, or variousother aspects of managing music. According to a further aspect, a usercan request a song or artist to be played. For example, a user canrequest to play “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen. The voice commandcan be processed and one or more resources or music libraries can besearched to determine if the track may be available. If the track isavailable, user interface 1000 can be updated to begin playing. However,in other forms, if a track is unavailable, user interface 1000, throughgraphics and/or audio output of voice control, can return an option topurchase the track (e.g. purchase from iTunes), and can navigate to asource to acquire the track. In other forms, if a track may not beavailable, user interface 1000 through graphics and/or audio output ofvoice control can provide a list of cloud services capable of providinga free version, or paid version of a streaming music. Upon selecting asource to provide the track, user interface 1000 can initiate output ofthe media.

According to a further aspect, a user may use voice command button 1024to access other types of media that can be played. For example, a usermay want to view a YouTube® video of a song that was recorded. As such,a user can request to have a YouTube® video downloaded to a resource.For example, user interface 1000 can receive text version of the requestencoded from a voice command, and a resource can initiate a search atYouTube® for the requested song. Search results and encoded links tovideos of the requested song can be provided to a user using userinterface 1000, and in other forms search results can be returned andprocessed automatically to initiate outputting or streaming a video.According to another aspect, a user can select the next track button1014 to initiate viewing the next video provided in the search results.

Although illustrated as a user interface to manage music, user interface1000 can be used and manage with other forms of media such as streamingmusic, streaming video, streaming photos, locally stored media, cloudstored media, or various other forms of media as needed or desired.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface 1100 configuredto display resource information and input selectors according to anaspect of the disclosure. A user interface 1100, can be deployed using amobile device, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 1100. Portionsor all of user interface 1100 can also be provided as a standaloneinterface or application, an Internet or Browser based interface orapplication, or any combination thereof capable of providing userinterface 1100. User interface 1100 can be used to display various typesof resource information, including, but not limited to providing anenvironment management user interface and settings that can be used todisplay information, environment settings or various other types ofsettings and information or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, a devices button 1102 that can be provided thatcan be selected to provide user interface 1100, as shown in FIG. 11.User interface 1100 can include a main display section 1104, capable ofproviding a list view of resources and locations currently beingmanaged. For example, user interface 1100 can display resources at ahome in Paris 1106 and resources at a home in a Vacation Home 1108.Paris Home 1106 can include a living room resource 1110, a dining roomresource 1112, and a bedroom resource 1114. According to an aspect,Vacation Home 1108 can include a downstairs resource 1116 and anupstairs resource 1118. Various combinations of resources can be used ateither location as needed or desired. Additionally, each resource caninclude portions, none, or all of a resource manager or resourcemanagement platform as described herein.

According to a further aspect, one or more resources can include mediaoutput capabilities such as playing video, streaming music, outputtingphotos, or various other media output capabilities. As such, userinterface 1100 can provide an icon to indicate a resources capabilitiesand status if desired. For example, living room resource 1110 caninclude a music output icon 1128 to indicate a music player and outputcapabilities, a comfort icon 1124 to indicate comfort settings ortemperature settings resource, and a scheduling resource 1126 to enablescheduling use of living room resource 1110. A user can further select aresource to view and manage by selecting arrow button 1120 of a desiredresource. For example, upon selecting arrow 1120, a user interfacesimilar to user interface 800 of FIG. 8 can be displayed. In otherforms, a user may select a music output icon 1128 and a user interfacesimilar to user interface 1000 can be displayed. Other user interfacescan also be provided as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, user interface 1100 can be used with apublish-subscribe (PUB-SUB) communication infrastructure to enablevarious types of communication such as chat rooms, instant messaging,and the like among resources. As such, a PUB-SUB communication resourcecan be accessed to communicate information between any combination ornumber of resources. A PUB-SUB resource allows for efficientcommunication of information without having to rely on a polling methodof communication. For example, living room resource 1110 host PUB-SUBresources and enable a virtual chat room to allow resources tocommunicate with each other, and user interface 1100 can join the chatroom and obtain information about resources. As such, user interface1100 can publish information, such as XML encoded data, media contentand references, resource management information, media managementinformation, energy management information, and various other types ofinformation that can be used to manage a resource in near real-time dueto the nature and performance of instant messaging and PUB-SUBtechnology.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured todisplay resource information and input selectors according to an aspectof the disclosure. A user interface 1200, can be deployed using a mobiledevice, laptop or desktop computer, tablet PC, monitor, display,television, active display surface, appliance, or any device, system, orcombination thereof capable of providing user interface 1200. Portionsor all of user interface 1200 can also be provided as a standaloneinterface or application, an Internet or Browser based interface orapplication, or any combination thereof. User interface 1200 can be usedto display various types of resource information, including, but notlimited to providing an environment management user interface andsettings that can be used to display information, environment settingsor various other types of settings and information or any combinationthereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 1200 can include a energy tipsbutton 1202 that can be selected to provide user interface 1200. Userinterface 1200 can include a main display section 1204, displayingseveral categories of video tips that can be viewed on how to saveenergy and reduce costs. Videos can include basic tips and in someinstances can include videos of new or existing products that can bepurchased. For example, a list of products and links to purchase may beprovided. In other instances, a link may be presented at an end of avideo to learn more about a product and can be shared into a socialnetwork such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.

According to an aspect, user interface 1200 can include a water tipcategory 1220, a lights category 1206, a leaks category 1208, aninsulation category 1210, an upgrades category 1212. User interface 1200can also display a total number of videos and products section 1218, andan indicator 1214 to identify if there are any new videos or products,According to a further aspect, energy tips icon can include ananimation, badge or other visual indicator to show that new tips orproducts may become available.

According to a further aspect, user interface 1200 can be used withvideo and product management services that can include various types ofvideos or customer engagement content to be communicated to userinterface 1200. According to an aspect, an energy tip video can begenerated in a specific region for a specific market or demographic. Assuch, the energy tip video can be communicated and displayed using userinterface 1200. According to another aspect, an energy tip video can becommunicated to a mobile device deploying user interface 1200 allowing auser to view the energy tip video in a mobile environment. As a userviews an energy tip video, the tip can be stored, saved, deleted, sharedinto a social network, as desired. Although described as an energy tipvideo, various other types of videos can be created and managed.Additionally, if a user views a tip using a mobile device or otherresource, indicator 1214 can be updated and animated icon 1202 canbecome non-animated as needed or desired. In this manner, a user may nothave a tip or notification located in multiple places after viewing. Forexample, user interface 1200 can be linked to a chat room using PUB-SUBand can communicate a message indicating that a tip has been viewed.Each resource can then update their tip list as needed or desired.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a user interface configured toprovision a resource according to an aspect of the disclosure. A userinterface 1300, can be deployed using a mobile device, laptop or desktopcomputer, tablet PC, monitor, display, television, active displaysurface, appliance, or any device, system, or combination thereofcapable of providing user interface 1300. Portions or all of userinterface 1300 can also be provided as a stand alone interface orapplication, an Internet or Browser based interface or application, orany combination thereof. User interface 1300 can be used to displayvarious types of resource information, including, but not limited toproviding an environment management user interface and settings that canbe used to display information, environment settings or various othertypes of settings and information or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, user interface 1300 can include several modeselectors to use to provision a new resource. For example, provisioninginterface 1300 can include one or any combination of an NFC Scanselector 1302, a WiFi scan selector 1304, and a Bluetooth Scan selector1306. Other scan techniques can also be provided. Additionally,provisioning interface 1300 may also be able to provide an option toscan using all available scan techniques. A located device list 1308 canbe provided to a user. A user may then select one or more devices 1310to provision or associate with the mobile device or site.

Although FIGS. 7-13 have been depicted as separate user interfaces,information presented therein can be combined as needed or desired andinformation, functionality, and presentation are not to be limited to aspecific user interface and can be combined, removed, appended, changedor altered in whole, or in part, as needed or desired.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of provisioning aresource according to an aspect of the disclosure. The method can beused by portions or all of the systems, devices, applications,platforms, services, methods, or any other resource or combinationthereof illustrated in FIGS. 1-13 and FIG. 15 and described herein. Themethod begins at block 1400 when a request to provision a resource maybe detected. The method proceeds to decision block 1402 and detectswhether to use NFC to provision a resource. If NFC can be used, themethod proceeds to block 1404 and an NFC reader may be enabled. At block1406, information is read from the NFC of the resource and at decisionblock 1408, the method determines whether provision informationsufficient to provision the resource may be available. If it isavailable, the method proceeds to block 1410 and the resource may beprovisioned. If at decision block 1408 provisioning information may notbe sufficient or available, information read from the resource can beused to communicate with another location, such as a cloud service, toobtain information to provision a resource.

According to an aspect, provisioning a resource can include enabling aresource to be used at a site. For example, provisioning can includeenabling a resource to join a local communication network, such as aWiFi or 802.11 based network. In other forms, provisioning can includeenabling a resource to have access to one or more types of networks. Forexample, a resource may include a Z-Wave communication device. As such,an NFC can include a Z-Wave profile information, and credentials toenable a resource to be used at a site. In other forms, a combination ofcommunication devices may be provided within a resource. As such, an NFCdevice can include credentials for multiple communication devices andmay communicate information to enable management of the resource.According to another aspect, provisioning can include providing an NFCof the resource with a minimal amount of information, such as a uniqueI.D. of the resource or NFC. As such, the unique I.D. can be used toobtain additional information through access of a database, cloudservice, or other information source capable of providing provisioninginformation using an I.D. obtained from an NFC device of a resource.According to another aspect, a unique password can be provided by theNFC device to authenticate access to information in connection withprovisioning a resource.

According to a further aspect, provisioning can also include usingchannel I.D.'s, PAN I.D.'s, Device I.D.'s, and can further includeproviding a role of a resource, device type, security information, anetwork key, device profile information including information sufficientto enable communication between a resource manager and the resourcebeing added to the network. A resource manager can provide provisioninginformation to be provided to an NFC of a resource being added andstored within memory of the NFC for use later. For example, channelnumbers, credentials, keys, and other information can be provided.According to another aspect, profile information can also includeinformation about what role the resource is to be when added. As such, adevice role can be created. Additional information about other resourceswithin the network can also be provided. For example, information abouthow to attach to other devices, like a smart meter, can also beprovided. According to an aspect, a specific default channel can beprovided with a channel I.D., or in some instances, a series of channelscan be used to initiate a scan by the new resource to enable theresource to join the network being created. A sequence of channelnumbers can also be provided for a resource to scan and join a network.

According to a further aspect, if at decision block 1402 NFC may not beused to provision a resource, the method can proceed to block 1414 and ascan of available WiFi networks can be initiated. For example, aresource can include a WiFi or 802.11-based communication device thatcan operate as an access point and broadcast a network name unique tothe resource. At block 1416, a resource WiFi network name can bedetected. According to an aspect, a user may select the network, or inother forms, the network can be accessed in an automated manner. Atblock 1418, a local WiFi password of a site where a resource may be usedcan be obtained to join a resource to a local WiFi network. According toan aspect, a stored password can be accessed and in other embodiments auser or other source may provide a password of a local WiFi network. Atblock 1420, a local WiFi network identifier and password can becommunicated to the resource. For example, the WiFi credentials can becommunicated using the WiFi network of the resource At block 1422, theresource can connect to a local WiFi network using the WiFi credentials.For example, the resource would enable the WiFi communication device asa network device that can be used to join another access point, such asthe local WiFi network. Upon connecting to the local WiFi network, themethod can proceed to block 1424 and the resource can be provisioned.The method 1400 ends as depicted by block 1430.

Although described as using WiFi to connect a device to a local network,other forms of communication can also be used. For example, a resourcecan include Bluetooth communication. As such, local WiFi credentials canbe communicated using Bluetooth without a need to have a resourceprovide a WiFi access point. Other forms of communication can also beused as needed or desired.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of managing a resourceaccording to an aspect of the disclosure. The method can be used byportions or all of the systems, devices, platforms, applications,services, methods, or any other resource of combination thereofillustrated in FIGS. 1-14 and described herein. The method begins atblock 1500 when a communication can be received by a resource managementplatform, or other resource capable of receiving and processing thecommunication. At block 1502, a type of communication can be detected.For example, communication can be provided by various types ofcommunication devices as described herein. Upon identifying the type ofcommunication, the method can proceed to block 1504 and can process thecommunication by applying a profile. For example, if a Z-Wavecommunication may be received, the method can process the communicationusing a Z-Wave profile. In other forms, a TCP/IP message may have beenreceived over a WiFi connection. As such, the WiFi communication can beused to access the TCP/IP message data. As such, more than one profilemay be needed to process a communication.

According to an aspect, upon processing the communication, resourceinformation may be extracted from the communication at block 1506. Themethod can then proceed to block 1508 and can identify a resource topicwithin the extracted resource information. For example, a resource topicmay be used with a resource management platform capable of publishingthe topic to be used by one or more resources. If a resource subscribesto the topic, the resource information can be accessed and used asneeded. For example, resource topic and information can include, but isnot limited to, energy management information, media managementinformation, application management information, provisioning managementinformation, network management information, environment managementinformation, customer engagement management information, or variousother types of resource management topics, or any combination thereof.

According to a further aspect, a resource can subscribe to multipleresource topics and can use resource information to modify use of aresource. For example, a thermostat having media output capabilities maysubscribe to an energy management topic, a media management topic and anenvironment management topic. As such, the method can publish topics andassociated information and the thermostat can receive the resourceinformation and generate an output accordingly. According to a furtheraspect, multiple devices may subscribe to a topic. For example, multiplewireless speakers may subscribe to a media management information topicand as such, each wireless speaker would receive and use the resourceinformation as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, upon identifying a resource topic at block 1508,the method can proceed based on the topic information detected. Upon useof a resource and resource information the method can proceed to block1516 as needed or desired. According to a further aspect, if more thanone topic may be identified, the method can be modified to process anduse resource information based on multiple topics.

According to an aspect, at block 1508 if energy management informationmay be detected, the method can proceed to block 1510. At block 1512,energy management information can be processed, and the method canproceed to block 1514 and initiate managing a resource using the energymanagement information. For example, a demand response event may bedetected and a resource capable of being altered may be modified. Assuch, the method at block 1514 can alter an operating condition of theresource. The method can then proceed to block 1516 and 1500 as neededor desired. Various other types of energy management information andresources can also be used as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, at block 1508, if media management informationmay be detected, the method can proceed to block 1522, and at block1524, media content to be managed can be detected. For example, a newsource of music can be provided, an operating condition of a mediaresource can be detected, or various other types of media content orinformation to manage a media resource can be detected. For example,resource information can include a music source to provide information,a target device to output media content, and a sound level to set themedia resource at in connection with outputting media. Various othercombinations of managing media content can also be provided as needed ordesired. The method can proceed to block 1526 and a management of amedia resource can be initiated.

According to an aspect, at block 1508, if application managementinformation may be detected, the method can proceed to block 1528. Uponidentifying application management information, the method can proceedto block 1530 and can identify an application resource to be used. Forexample, an application can include a device integrator or installationapplication, an auto-provisioning application, a weather application, aprice alert application, an energy saving tips application, a photoviewer application, a music player application, a video streamerapplication, an energy monitor application, a music streamingapplication, a lighting control application, a home securityapplication, a video surveillance application, a calendar application, areminder application, an appliance control application, a settingsapplication, a third party application, a water sprinkler application, arenewable energy management application, a YouTube application, aPandora music application, a Picasa photo viewer application, a networkmonitor application or various other applications that can be detectedto manage a resource. For example, upon identifying an applicationresource, the method can proceed to block 1532 and can initiate use ofthe application resource and an associated resource. For example, a homesecurity application can be accessed to alter a setting of an alarm. Assuch, an alarm application can be accessed and resources associated withthe alarm application can be accessed and managed. Upon initiating useof the application resources, the method can proceed to block 1516, asdescribed above.

According to an aspect, at block 1508 if provisioning managementinformation may be detected, the method can proceed to block 1534 and toblock 1536 to detect whether to provision a new device. For example, anew resource may be detected using a near field communication or othercommunication device. At block 1536, the method can determine if theresource is authorized or capable of being provisioned. If the devicemay not be capable of being provisioned, the method can proceed to block1500, or in other forms, can be modified to allow for accessingprovisioning information and obtaining authorization to join. If atblock 1536, the resource should be joined, the method can proceed toblock 1538 and provisioning can be initiated. The method can proceed toblock 1516 as described above.

According to an aspect, if at block 1508 network management informationmay be detected, the method can proceed to block 1540 and at block 1542a communication resource of a network to manage can be identified. Forexample, one or more resources may be using a Zigbee profile to managecommunication. As such, if a Zigbee profile may be altered, channelchanged, etc. the method can provide a resource topic of the change, andeach resource can receive a change to the profile. Other communicationresources can also be managed as Zigbee is one example. The method canthen proceed to block 1544 and initiate managing the communicationresource. The method can proceed to block 1516 as described above.

According to an aspect, at block 1508, if environment managementinformation may be detected, the method can proceed to block 1546 and atblock 1548, environment management information can be processed. Forexample, environment management information can include altering anenvironment within a room at a site. For example, management can includeturning on a light, altering a temperature, modifying an audio level ormodifying various other resource that can be used by environmentmanagement information. As such, the method can proceed to block 1550and management of one or more resources can be initiated. The method canproceed to block 1516 as described above.

According to an aspect, if at block 1508 customer engagement managementinformation may be detected, the method can proceed to block 1552. Atblock 1554, the customer engagement management information can beprocessed. Upon processing the customer engagement information, themethod can proceed to block 1556 and initiate managing a customerengagement resource. For example, a customer may view an energy tipcommunicated to a media center and to a mobile application. Eachresource may subscribe to a customer engagement topic and when a userviews the energy tip, a customer engagement resource can be altered. Forexample, a notification of a new tip may be extinguished on the mobiledevice and media center. Various other customer engagement processes andresources can also be managed as needed or desired. The method canproceed to block 1516 as described above.

Note that not all of the activities described above in the generaldescription or the examples are required, that a portion of a specificactivity may not be required, and that one or more further activitiesmay be performed in addition to those described. Still further, theorder in which activities are listed are not necessarily the order inwhich they are performed.

The specification and illustrations of the embodiments described hereinare intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of thevarious embodiments. The specification and illustrations are notintended to serve as an exhaustive and comprehensive description of allof the elements and features of apparatus and systems that use thestructures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments may beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the disclosure.Other embodiments may be used and derived from the disclosure, such thata structural substitution, logical substitution, or another change maybe made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly,the disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative rather thanrestrictive.

Certain features are, for clarity, described herein in the context ofseparate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a singleembodiment. Conversely, various features that are, for brevity,described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be providedseparately or in any sub combination. Further, reference to valuesstated in ranges includes each and every value within that range.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any feature(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeature of any or all the claims.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover any andall such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments that fallwithin the scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximum extentallowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to be determinedby the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims andtheir equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by theforegoing detailed description.

Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detailabove, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that manymodifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments withoutmaterially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of theembodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the followingclaims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to coverthe structures described herein as performing the recited function andnot only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

1. A resource management platform comprising: an interface configured to communicate media management information and energy management information; a processor configured to detect an incoming communication to alter an operating condition in response to receiving the media management information or the energy management information, the processor further configured to: initiate an output of media content in response to detecting media management information; initiate altering an operating status of a resource in response to detecting the energy management information; and store at least a portion of the media content and the energy management information within a memory.
 2. The resource management platform of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to: detect a second resource via the interface; identify that the energy management information or the media management information is to be used to control the second resource; communicate at least a portion of the energy management information or the media information to the second resource; and receive a response from the second resource that the operating condition has been altered.
 3. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising: a display capable of outputting a GUI operable to display at least a portion of the media content including graphics and video; at least one speaker configured to output an audio portion of the media content; and a thermostat control configured to alter an operating condition of environmental control system at the site.
 4. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising a near field communication device configured to: output a unique identifier including provisioning information configured to enable provisioning to join the communication network; and communicate the provisioning information to the processor to indicate provisioning has been initiated.
 5. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising: wherein the interface is configured to enable access to a cloud service operable to communicate the energy management information or the media management information; and wherein the processor is further configured to periodically initiate communication with the cloud service using the interface.
 6. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising an embedded server deployed using the processor and configured to: operate as an energy management service capable of managing energy use at the site; operate as a media management system capable of managing media use at the site; and operate as a gateway configured to enable access to the Internet.
 7. The resource management platform of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to: enable a pub-sub communication protocol using the interface; identify a second resource using the pub-sub communication protocol; receive profile information of the second resource using the pub-sub communication protocol; and communicate additional profile information including a device identifier to the second resource using the pub-sub communication protocol.
 8. The resource management platform of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to use one or more of: a Smart Energy based profile; a Echonet Lite based profile; a Echonet based profile; a UPNP based profile; a DLNA based profile; a Environment management based profile; a Customer engagement based profile; and a AirPlay based profile.
 9. The resource management platform of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the media management information and at least a portion of the energy management information can be communicated together.
 10. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising: a publish-subscribe communication infrastructure; and a chat room configured to enable publishing of resource information.
 11. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising the processor configured to enable an application including one or more of: a weather application; a price alert application; a energy saving tips application; a photo viewer application; a music player application; a video streamer application; an energy monitor application; a music streaming application; a lighting control application; a home security application; a video surveillance application; a calendar application; a reminder application; an appliance control application; a settings application; a third party application; a water sprinkler application; a renewable energy management application; a YouTube application; a Pandora music application; a Picasa photo viewer application; and a network monitor application
 12. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising an application framework configured to enable adding, deleting, and updating applications without requiring a reboot of the processor.
 13. The resource management platform of claim 1 further comprising: a docking station housing configured to be mounted to a wall; and a media center housing configured to be coupled to the docking station.
 14. The resource management platform of claim 13 further comprising: wherein the docking station housing includes: a terminal interface configured to be connected to a wiring harness of the environmental control system; a docking station PCB including a docking station processor within the docking station housing and capable of controlling the environmental control system; a docking interface configured to be coupled to a media center interface of the media center housing; wherein the media center housing includes: a media center printed circuit board including the processor; a touchscreen display configured to output video; a speaker configured to output audio; and wherein the processor includes an embedded media player within the processor and capable of outputting the audio and video.
 15. The resource management platform of claim 14 wherein the interface is operably coupled to one or more communication devices stored in either or both of the media center housing or docking station housing, the communication modules including one or more of: a IP-based communication device; a Broad-band communication device; a IEEE 802.15-based wireless communication device; a Zigbee communication device; a INSETEON communication device; a X10 communication protocol device; a Z-Wave communication device; a Bluetooth communication device; a WIFI communication device; a IEEE 802.11-based communication device; a WiMAX communication device; a IEEE 802.16-based communication device; a communication device within a frequency range of 900 MHz-1.5 GHz; a Infrared communication device; a proprietary wireless communication device; a 6LowPAN communication device; a power line communication device; a RFID enabled communication device; and a NFC enabled communication device.
 16. The resource management platform of claim 14 further comprising: wherein the docking interface and the media center interface are configured to enable the media center housing to be removed from the docking station housing; a rechargeable battery within the media center housing cable of powering media center components when removed from the docking interface; and wherein the interface includes a wireless communication interface configured to allow wireless communication of the media management information and the energy management information.
 17. A method comprising: receiving a communication including resource management information at a site; detecting a request to alter an operating condition in response to receiving an media management information or an energy management information within the resource management information; outputting media content in response to detecting the media management information; altering an operating status of a resource in response to detecting the energy management information; and storing at least a portion of the media content and the energy management information within a memory.
 18. The method of claim 11 further comprising: enabling a near field reader using a mobile application of a mobile device; displaying identification information of a near field device within a user interface of the mobile application, wherein the identification information can be used to identify an resource including the near field device; and detecting provisioning information of the near field device.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: detecting whether the identification information includes provisioning information; using a web service to access the provisioning information stored remote from the mobile device; displaying the identification information; and provisioning the resource using at least a portion of the provisioning information accessed using the web service.
 20. The method of claim 18 further comprising: detecting a request to output media content within the media management information; outputting the media content using a media player of a processor, a video display, and at least one speaker; and receiving the energy management information while the media content is being output.
 21. The method of claim 20 further comprising: detecting the energy management information; determining whether to alter an operating condition of an environmental control resource using the energy management information; and initiating an altering of the environmental control resource while the media content is being output.
 22. The method of claim 11 further comprising providing a first resource configured to: receive a communication including media management information and energy management information at a site; detect a request to alter an operating condition of the first resource using the energy management information; detect a request to output media content at a second resource using the media management information; and initiate outputting the media content at the second resource.
 23. The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving the media management information and the energy management information from a mobile device configured to be used with the first resource and the second resource.
 24. The method of claim 19 further comprising: enabling a mobile application within a mobile device; enabling an wireless access point (WAP) function of a resource, wherein the enabling includes broadcasting a WAP identifier; identifying the WAP identifier using the mobile device; enabling entry of a password of another local wireless access point; communicating the password using the WAP; joining the resource to the another local access point using the password.
 25. A resource management platform comprising: a processor configured to detect an incoming communication to alter an operating condition in response to receiving media management information or energy management information, the processor further configured to: initiate an output of media content in response to detecting the media management information; initiate altering an operating status of a resource in response to detecting the energy management information; and store at least a portion of the media content and the energy management information within a memory; a interface configured to use one or more of: a Zigbee based communication device; a Zwave based communication device; a WiFi based communication device; a Bluetooth based communication device; and a Power Line based communication device.
 26. The resource management platform of claim 25 further comprising: a docking station housing configured to house one or more of the communication devices; and a media center housing configured to house one or more of the communication devices.
 27. The resource management platform of claim 25 further comprising: a communication module having at least two of the communication devices; and wherein the interface is configured to be operably coupled to the communication module to access the at least two of the communication devices.
 28. A resource management platform comprising: a thermostat control interface capable of altering an operating condition of an environmental control system; a touchscreen display configurable to enable access to media content located at a remote media source; a speaker operable to output audio accessed from the remote media source; a interface configured to communicate media content and energy management information at the site; a processor configured to detect an incoming communication to alter an operating condition in response to receiving at least a portion of the media management information and at least a portion of the energy management information, the processor further configured to: initiate an output of the media content in response to detecting the media management information; initiate altering the operating condition of the environmental control system in response to detecting the energy management information; and store at least a portion of the media content and the energy management information within a memory.
 29. The resource management platform of claim 28 wherein the remote media source can include one or more of: an AirPlay enabled resource; a DLNA enabled resource; a UPNP enabled resource; a media server; a computer; a mobile resource; a game console; a photo server; a portable music resource; and a wireless speaker.
 30. The resource management platform of claim 25 further comprising the interface configured to enable access an Internet-based source including one or more of: a streaming music library source; a streaming radio source; a streaming video source; a pay-per-view media source; a subscription based source; a paid music source; an on-line photo source; an energy management source; a utility source; a thermostat management source; a web-services source; a home security source; a website; a customer engagement source; a savings tip source; a video source; and a software update source. 